Tony's Garden

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The continual intrusion into our minds of the hammering noises of arguments and propaganda can lead to two kinds of reactions. It may lead to apathy and indifference, the I-don’t-care reaction, or to a more intensified desire to study and to understand. Unfortunately, the first reaction is the more popular one.”―…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us vs. Them — the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe in all these stupid doctrines are morons; that if you’re sensible, you’ll listen to us; and if not, to…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “There is, however, hope for any person who wants to remain an individual. He can assert himself and refuse to conform. He’ll be on his own, that’s true, but while he will not have the security enjoyed by those who do conform, there will be no limits to what he may…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “Problems worthy of attackprove their worth by fighting back.” ― Piet Hein, Grooks 1 BIRTHDAYS: 1706 Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (Institutions de Physique; translation of Newton’s Principia) 1749 Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer. “Vè che matta, maledetta!”, and Sonata II – Valentino Bontempi 1797 Joseph Henry, American scientist and…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “Language most shows a man; speak that I may see thee” ― Ben Jonson BIRTHDAYS: 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer and pianist. “Widely regarded as the greatest composer who ever lived, Ludwig van Beethoven dominates a period of musical history as no one else before or since.” 9th Symphony (1:21)…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The mind that is open for questions is open for dissent. In the totalitarian regime the doubting, inquisitive, and imaginative mind has to be suppressed. The totalitarian slave is only allowed to memorize, to salivate when the bell rings.” ― Joost A.M. Meerloo BIRTHDAYS: 1567 Christoph Demantius, German composer. Weissagung des…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “I don’t like ass kissers, flag wavers or team players. I like people who buck the system. Individualists. I often warn people: “Somewhere along the way, someone is going to tell you, ‘There is no “I” in team.’ What you should tell them is, ‘Maybe not. But there is an “I”…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “Most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind-in-the-mass through some pet formula of their own. The harm done by ordinary…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today. The Western world has lost its civic courage . . . . Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling and intellectual elite, causing an impression of a loss…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty. And can never be restrained but by despotic governments.” ― George Mason BIRTHDAYS: 1566 Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese composer. Requiem a 4 de Manuel Cardoso, and Lamentatio 1725 George Mason, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention…